Guild Wars 2

With some help, I’ve finally finished this build.
Feel free to leave comments about the build and, if you think there are any better alternatives, feel free to submit your ideas! Thanks everyone! Enjoy!

Build: Rifle/Longbow Ranged DPS PvE Warrior (Crit focused)

Utility Skills:
6 – Healing Surge / Signet (Passive Regen rocks for PvE solo, WvW and Dungeon = Healing Surge for the better burst and the instant max adrenaline.
7 – “For Great Justice!” (In my opinion, an absolute must)
8. Blank Slot (Any suggestions? Testing out random skills, can’t find a winner)
9. Signet of Fury (90 extra precision, and 30 adrenaline? Yes please!)
10. Signet of Rage (Fury, Might, and Rage… only 18s downtime!)

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Traits
Strength (10)
-Reckless Dodge (damage at end of roll)
-Berserker’s Power (3%/7%/12% dmg increase depending on adrenaline lvl)

Explanation: No brainer here. Reckless dodge is just a nice buff up, but the real beauty is from Berserker’s Power. For a minor investment of 10 points, you get 12% extra damage!
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Arms (30)
Precise Strikes (33%bleed on crit)
Rending Strikes (33%vulnerability on crit)
Critical Burst (Burst skills have 10% crit chance increase)
Crack Shot (Rifle pierces and skills recharge 20% faster)
Attack of Opportunity (10% increase damage against bleeding foes)
Furious (Critical hits give strikes of adrenaline)

Explanation: Normal rifle attacks cause bleed and w/ precise strikes, your target is going to be bleeding non-stop = 10% extra damage. Rending Strikes to stack vulnerability w/ constant critical hits. Crackshot for obvious reasons…

Final skill solved!!! Thanks guys. After some testing and recommendations, decided to go with Furious for the extra adrenaline. Important to utilize both bursts and maintain high adrenaline for the % damage and crit from trait lines!
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Discipline (30)
Versatile Rage (5 strikes of adrenaline on weapon change)
Heightened Focus (2%/5%/9% critical chance depending on adrenaline)
Fast Hands (Weapon swapping recharges 5 seconds faster)
Signet Mastery (20% faster recharge… must for fury and stacking might)
Versatile Rage (Gain 10 might for swapping weapons)
Quick Bursts (Burst skills recharge 20% faster) Under Review

Explanation: Weapon swapping gives adrenaline and might. Faster recharge on signets to use Signet of Rage and stack might overall. More critical as this build revolves entirely around critical % and critical damage. The empty slot again…

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Basic style of play: Go through Rifle Skills, swap gaining might/adren, go through LB skills, swap gaining might/adren, burst and go through, etc. etc…
Remember, this is a build designed for level 80.
While leveling up, the bows condition damage and the +40 precision per signet trait skill tend to be overpowered at lower levels. They both scale poorly however.

Remember!!! The longbow is far superior until level 40, then it slowly evens out until 60. I made a second warrior to test this all out (lol…) and it seems that by 60, the Rifle can finally be said to be the stronger of the two. This does not mean that Longbow is useless though!
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Rune issue has been solved for armor, thanks guys!
Superior Rune of the Scholar later on… Ruby until then.

Any suggestions on Runes for weapon?
More damage? Lifesteal on crit?

Thanks guys for your help!!!

P.S. Made a 2nd warrior to test out some kinks and, ultimately, to make a guide for anyone that wants to go PvE rifle/LB (from level 1-80 tips, etc.)
Soloing all the champions
Few that I still can’t do, but I should eventually get them down haha

I wish I could boot every Warrior who goes Rifle in PvE.

Yaki.9563:

I wish I could boot every Warrior who goes Rifle in PvE.

Why? Explain.
Otherwise, you’re being rather useless, aren’t you?
I understand why people hate 5 signet warriors, but tell me, please, how your GS warrior is so much better?

If it is a personal dislike, understandable.
If it is a theory-craft / realistic dislike from facts, then you might need to do it again.

Deep Strikes is wimpy past 60, which coincidentally is also when you should stop using a signet build if you were using one. Take that off your table period.

I also find the combination of speccing to use your adren and traits that benefit from it being up as counter productive – are you going to be spamming them or saving them for situational use? Depending on that answer, I’d either take some points from discipline or strength – that would give enough points to get stronger bowstrings in the tactics tree.

@Yaki – Yeah, I’m guessing this is personal hate that doesn’t make sense. Sure, bow = better AoE and Warriors only field, but warriors have always been reliant on other people’s fields to be effective. The warrior’s alternate weapon will always be able to handle AoE (be it the bow like kittenas, or cleave off melee weapons), rifle can be traited for piercing, and has some of the strongest single target damage in the game on top of high range bleeds, cripples and vulns. Add in whatever I do triggers teammates fields (projectile) and that I can kill almost any trash with a single volley or kill shot, and I fail to see any problems with Rifle in PvE.

CookMETEnder.7582:

Which rune do you think I should use?
and any recommendations for weapon?

Don’t forget ruby orbs in your rune choices. If you are going for straight damage they beat everything except scholar runes when you are above 90% health. They give 120 power, 84 precision, and 12 crit damage. And 6 of them will only cost you like 50 silver.

Rifle can do some good aoe damage if you get decent at lining them up. A volley and killshot from the rifle can wipe out a lot of mobs if you position yourself correctly. With your 2 sources of filling your adrenaline you can pretty much spam your kill shot when it’s off cooldown for some really nice damage.

Drawing Guy.3701:

Deep Strikes is wimpy past 60, which coincidentally is also when you should stop using a signet build if you were using one. Take that off your table period.

I also find the combination of speccing to use your adren and traits that benefit from it being up as counter productive – are you going to be spamming them or saving them for situational use? Depending on that answer, I’d either take some points from discipline or strength – that would give enough points to get stronger bowstrings in the tactics tree.

@Yaki – Yeah, I’m guessing this is personal hate that doesn’t make sense. Sure, bow = better AoE and Warriors only field, but warriors have always been reliant on other people’s fields to be effective. The warrior’s alternate weapon will always be able to handle AoE (be it the bow like kittenas, or cleave off melee weapons), rifle can be traited for piercing, and has some of the strongest single target damage in the game on top of high range bleeds, cripples and vulns. Add in whatever I do triggers teammates fields (projectile) and that I can kill almost any trash with a single volley or kill shot, and I fail to see any problems with Rifle in PvE.

I’ve already taken signets off. Been messing around a bit and I realized that the signets really do suck (I mean the +40 precision lol). I’ll edit my original post to reflect that after this. I don’t think I’ll get stronger bowstring. The range is plenty right now, and it seems counter productive, but with 2, maybe 3 skills that instantly fill up adrenaline on top of crazy adrenaline, you have very brief periods when you’re down on adrenaline xD Thank you so much for the reply on the signets though!

Gothir.3604:

CookMETEnder.7582:

Which rune do you think I should use?
and any recommendations for weapon?

Don’t forget ruby orbs in your rune choices. If you are going for straight damage they beat everything except scholar runes when you are above 90% health. They give 120 power, 84 precision, and 12 crit damage. And 6 of them will only cost you like 50 silver.

Rifle can do some good aoe damage if you get decent at lining them up. A volley and killshot from the rifle can wipe out a lot of mobs if you position yourself correctly. With your 2 sources of filling your adrenaline you can pretty much spam your kill shot when it’s off cooldown for some really nice damage.

Yea, someone told me about them. I already have a few of them and I’m testing them out on random armor. I guess I’ll stick with that and save up my money for the sexy skinned weapons xD

So you think the 20% faster recharge is better than???

I’ve been running a rifle warrior on wvw (and sometimes dungeons for the extra xp, gold and gear) for a while and here are my opinions on this:

With crack shot and bow aoe field you get a lot of crit hits, and with Furious this gets your adrenaline pool to fill up almost instantly. Going for Quick Bursts is the best option.

Banner of discipline is great to get that 10% crit dmg buff, and you can pick up the banner for a fury and swiftness buff (and a little sprint skill). Also, the banner can be used to get 2 blast combos (on summon and banner #5) on your bow combo field for area might.

As I run asura, I use the racial skill to get a poison field, this gives you some good poison combo projectiles for a bit of extra cond dmg and healing debuff.

crit food is your best friend…

lLobo.7960:

I’ve been running a rifle warrior on wvw (and sometimes dungeons for the extra xp, gold and gear) for a while and here are my opinions on this:

With crack shot and bow aoe field you get a lot of crit hits, and with Furious this gets your adrenaline pool to fill up almost instantly. Going for Quick Bursts is the best option.

Banner of discipline is great to get that 10% crit dmg buff, and you can pick up the banner for a fury and swiftness buff (and a little sprint skill). Also, the banner can be used to get 2 blast combos (on summon and banner #5) on your bow combo field for area might.

As I run asura, I use the racial skill to get a poison field, this gives you some good poison combo projectiles for a bit of extra cond dmg and healing debuff.

crit food is your best friend…

Awesome! Thanks so much!
Haha yea, I’ve stocked up on tons of crit food, no worries there

Rifle damage is inferior to melee damage single target. It’s far inferior to melee damage with multiple targets thanks to cleave and AE skills. The only thing you gain from rifle is the ability to fight at range but to me that just means you are standing outside of heal range while all the other melee are getting heals and protection and other boons because they are nicely clumped up around the boss.

There’s a case for going Rifle in WvWvW because of Kill Shot’s burst and the way zerging is, but in PvE? /boot (not really, but I sigh inside)

Yaki.9563:

Rifle damage is inferior to melee damage single target. It’s far inferior to melee damage with multiple targets thanks to cleave and AE skills. The only thing you gain from rifle is the ability to fight at range but to me that just means you are standing outside of heal range while all the other melee are getting heals and protection and other boons because they are nicely clumped up around the boss.

There’s a case for going Rifle in WvWvW because of Kill Shot’s burst and the way zerging is, but in PvE? /boot (not really, but I sigh inside)

I’m curious, what level are you? I’m also curious to see whether you are a noob or just biased.

You have seemingly done no math; moreover, it also seems that you have never rolled with a good ranged warrior. Sure, it’s easy to say they suck after rolling with a few bad ones, but let’s be honest… how many idiot melee warriors have you seen wipe? 80%+ of the warriors are GS users and a LOT of them simply suck. They wipe so often.
So if we were to judge simply on wiping… your statement would not make sense.

With what information do you say the Ranged DPS is lower?
Once again, I’m curious to see if you are simply biased or have actually done the math and rolled with a good rifle warrior.
While a melee warrior is constantly in threat and, often times, has to move around to dodge losing DPS, a rifle warrior can maintain both sustained AND burst dps via switching between Rifle/LB (thus gaining might and adrenaline).

Also, in terms of gear, a ranged warrior can gear up fully for damage and crit while most melee warriors tend to throw in a little V/T for better survivability.

I’m inclined to believe that you are simply biased and don’t want to the fact the facts because you state that ranged warriors don’t stay in range of heals and boons. It shows both your illogical hate for ranged warrior AND your lack of thinking. Why would ranged warrior stand out range for heals, boons, and effects? Honestly, think about it, can you give me any good reason? I rarely stay at my max range, simply far enough to be out of melee which is still rather close.

Through all this, the only reasons I can see for you hating on ranged warriors is that you have:
1. Played with noob ranged warriors (which makes no sense as their are FAR more noob melee warriors as the population is higher)
2. Did the math incorrectly as on paper, they aren’t that far apart.
3. Never played with a good ranged warrior as you will see they often out DPS you.

90% of the time, I see ranged warriors out DPS melee. The exceptions are when I roll with my guild. We have a few glass cannon melee warriors (same gear and runes as me), but they have near flawless gameplay. They don’t need any extra V/T as they rarely make mistakes. Then I say it is comparable.

Once again, show me some logical reasoning for why you hate ranged warriors.

P.S. Oh right, just realized… It’s also blatantly obvious you don’t know what you’re talking about when you say “thanks to cleave.”
Ever hear of pierce? It’s rather OP.

You did no math either, just saying. It’s obvious that ranged does less damage, just go hit up a target dummy. Then factor in cleaves and it’s a no brainer. Pierce mitigates that somewhat but pierce < cleave.

Yaki.9563:

You did no math either, just saying. It’s obvious that ranged does less damage, just go hit up a target dummy. Then factor in cleaves and it’s a no brainer. Pierce mitigates that somewhat but pierce < cleave.

Have you been frequently browsing these forums?
Before I post any topic, I search through at least 30 pages to find if there are any relate-able. There are about 4 asking questions about Rifles.

Hit a target dummy? So, it’s safe to assume that you are not level 80 right?
I just talked about situational DPS in my last reply…
Target Dummy is like doing a chemical experiment in a controlled environment… it’s not realistic.

Also, I’m questioning if you have ever even done a ranged build before. The power of the Rifle/LB build comes not only from traits but also its obscenely high rate of critical (and being able to do so safely b/c it is ranged). When you reach level 80 and fully gear your own way with GS, tell me. We can do a dungeon run together and I’ll show you how good Rifle/LB is.

I’m not saying GS is bad; rather, what I am saying is that Rifle and GS, overall, are equal. They both have situations in which they excel, but it is factually impossible to say that one is far better than the other.

Oh, also, I would say pierce = cleave.
Cleave may have a wider cone, but pierce let’s you do it from a safe distance.
In terms of mob tagging, understandable; otherwise, not really valid.

I am lvl 80. Test dummies provide accurate relative comparisons of base damage. It’s not like rifles get a 2x damage bonus vs. moving targets. But hey, why don’t you avoid the real numbers and just claim it does good damage and deflect any dissent by claiming I’m not 80.

Rifle has no higher crit rate than any other weapon. Nothing you specced is Rifle specific except for the Rifle trait, which merely reduces cooldowns and adds piercing.

Cook, I understand your personal preference for Rifles, but that guy is correct.
You are not getting anywhere near the same DPS as say an Axe with your Rifle.
On my char with equal buffs my Axe deals 7.1k DPS.
Rifle gets up to 5k DPS during Volley and then downhill to 2k the rest of the time.
Sorry but DPS-wise melee has triple the DPS of ranged for Warriors.

That doesn’t mean Rifle-only isn’t viable, it just mean that going Rifle only (actually, going anything-only) is being half a Warrior.
To get to best efficiency, not only you need to swap your weapons, but change weapons, utilities and traits according to the next encounter too.

Of course there is no one telling you that you can’t play your way, but you can’t complain if they tell you that is far from using the Warrior efficiently, because it’s the truth.
Please do not waste time trying to dismiss truth, just accept it and rather push on the fact that this is your playstyle and you don’t care about min/maxing.

I think you guys just haven’t watched enough rifle warriors do their “dance of death” on champions solo. It isn’t about DPS or crit rate. It is about the dance.

You can tell who is a Mechwarrior/Earthsiege/Armored Core/Front Mission veteran by how they do the dance with a rifle warrior.

And yes, I’m a vet of all of the above.

Ravion Hawk.4736:

I think you guys just haven’t watched enough rifle warriors do their “dance of death” on champions solo. It isn’t about DPS or crit rate. It is about the dance.

You can tell who is a Mechwarrior/Earthsiege/Armored Core/Front Mission veteran by how they do the dance with a rifle warrior.

And yes, I’m a vet of all of the above.

Soloing vets/champs != PvE group efficiency.

Anyone with a ranged weapon can solo champs btw, the AI is terrible against any form of kiting.
There is no such thing as being a “veteran” of such a simply task, everyone can do it.

Red Falcon.8257:

Ravion Hawk.4736:

I think you guys just haven’t watched enough rifle warriors do their “dance of death” on champions solo. It isn’t about DPS or crit rate. It is about the dance.

You can tell who is a Mechwarrior/Earthsiege/Armored Core/Front Mission veteran by how they do the dance with a rifle warrior.

And yes, I’m a vet of all of the above.

Soloing vets/champs != PvE group efficiency.

Anyone with a ranged weapon can solo champs btw, the AI is terrible against any form of kiting.
There is no such thing as being a “veteran” of such a simply task, everyone can do it.

I’m starting to doubt that you’re end game.
“Anyone with a ranged weapon can solo champs btw”
Seriously? Have you never played with people while leveling up and done some pub groups for dungeons? Some people are HORRIBLE. Even a simple kiting technique is hard for some people. I don’t mean to bash on these people; rather, I’m just stating that some, actually A LOT of, people don’t bother taking the time to learn end-game strategies. They just go a cookie-cutter build w/ GS and slash around. It’s viable (which I think is a great job by GW2 to make it acceptable for casual / “noob” players).

Yaki.9563:

I am lvl 80. Test dummies provide accurate relative comparisons of base damage. It’s not like rifles get a 2x damage bonus vs. moving targets. But hey, why don’t you avoid the real numbers and just claim it does good damage and deflect any dissent by claiming I’m not 80.

Rifle has no higher crit rate than any other weapon. Nothing you specced is Rifle specific except for the Rifle trait, which merely reduces cooldowns and adds piercing.

Base damage, in IDEAL situations. You say you are level 80, but the more I read of your posts, the less I believe it. Don’t know about you, but there are a TON of mobs that drop people in 1~2 shots. Rooting yourself to use HB is near suicide unless timed… and the key word there is Timed…
I find axe and rifle DPS, or should I say realistic DPS , to be far greater than GS. Every second HB is not used, the overall DPS of a GS plummets. HB is what makes the GS the best DPS weapon in ideal situations.

Red Falcon.8257:

Cook, I understand your personal preference for Rifles, but that guy is correct.
You are not getting anywhere near the same DPS as say an Axe with your Rifle.
On my char with equal buffs my Axe deals 7.1k DPS.
Rifle gets up to 5k DPS during Volley and then downhill to 2k the rest of the time.
Sorry but DPS-wise melee has triple the DPS of ranged for Warriors.

That doesn’t mean Rifle-only isn’t viable, it just mean that going Rifle only (actually, going anything-only) is being half a Warrior.
To get to best efficiency, not only you need to swap your weapons, but change weapons, utilities and traits according to the next encounter too.

Of course there is no one telling you that you can’t play your way, but you can’t complain if they tell you that is far from using the Warrior efficiently, because it’s the truth.
Please do not waste time trying to dismiss truth, just accept it and rather push on the fact that this is your playstyle and you don’t care about min/maxing.

Once again, really making me believe you less and less. Triple the DPS? Exaggeration I hope. I’ll look around for it, but there was a post where a warrior actually calculated the DPS in ideal situations. In this case, the GS won, but like my reply right above, rarely will you have the ideal situation. In order for the GS to maintain the best DPS, you would have to use HB as soon as it is off cooldown… Not sure about you, but that rarely happens so conveniently.

I don’t have a personal preference for Rifle. With my first warrior, I went GS / LB (horn in inventory) the entire 1-80 and even end-game. I watched a few amazing Rifle Warriors in my guild and friendly guilds play, and I was amazed at the efficiency. I rarely ever die in dungeons with GS, but it is a constant annoyance to have to dodge and have HB sitting on my bar ready to go but unable to be used.

Of course, if you’re end-game means farming CoF all day long, then I guess GS is better.

Actually, pierce is > cleave if you line yourself up. Cleave can hit 3 targets, pierce 5. Add in a flame sigil that can proc off any pierced target, and you have an issue you’re DPSing more targets than that melee guy ever will, and likely will pull aggro. I personally pick the farthest away mob from myself and line up shots. Mass cripples, mass vulns, mass bleeds, while still having high damage? No, the rifle can handle multiple targets as well as single.

As for my comment on rifle, I must note that max damage =/= DPS. Rifle has some nice burst (Rapid Shot that plink 20k by the end of the combo) and Kill Shot (which can also break 20k). I can run around open world and never even have mobs reach me. If they do (usually a vet), just 5 punch it away and unload another rapid shot into it. This beats GS as I’m not rooted for my moves – unless the mob blocks/evades/reflects (which also would screw your GS), my combos hit. When your bursts take down the target, DPS doesn’t matter. On targets where it does NOT, then things pass it (like axe)… but then comes the question of the ability to lay that DPS down. A ranged person has little to interrupt them – a boss that hops around (as long as it’s not crazy like the Champion in front of the CoF enterance) doesn’t escape your DPS. Bosses that force ranged. Kiting Champions with ranged is easy… and against ranged Champions is even easier.

Situation always dictates, but there are situations where Rifle wins, and is good enough if traited and played right to be used even as a main weapon. Only groan when you see that warrior shooting downward at the mob at his feet when there is a group right next to him – that is the player, not the weapon, making it suck

Drawing Guy.3701:

Actually, pierce is > cleave if you line yourself up. Cleave can hit 3 targets, pierce 5. Add in a flame sigil that can proc off any pierced target, and you have an issue you’re DPSing more targets than that melee guy ever will, and likely will pull aggro. I personally pick the farthest away mob from myself and line up shots. Mass cripples, mass vulns, mass bleeds, while still having high damage? No, the rifle can handle multiple targets as well as single.

As for my comment on rifle, I must note that max damage =/= DPS. Rifle has some nice burst (Rapid Shot that plink 20k by the end of the combo) and Kill Shot (which can also break 20k). I can run around open world and never even have mobs reach me. If they do (usually a vet), just 5 punch it away and unload another rapid shot into it. This beats GS as I’m not rooted for my moves – unless the mob blocks/evades/reflects (which also would screw your GS), my combos hit. When your bursts take down the target, DPS doesn’t matter. On targets where it does NOT, then things pass it (like axe)… but then comes the question of the ability to lay that DPS down. A ranged person has little to interrupt them – a boss that hops around (as long as it’s not crazy like the Champion in front of the CoF enterance) doesn’t escape your DPS. Bosses that force ranged. Kiting Champions with ranged is easy… and against ranged Champions is even easier.

Situation always dictates, but there are situations where Rifle wins, and is good enough if traited and played right to be used even as a main weapon. Only groan when you see that warrior shooting downward at the mob at his feet when there is a group right next to him – that is the player, not the weapon, making it suck

Exactly, thanks for that.
Too many people generalize the Rifle Warrior.
They see low skill level 5 signet rifle warriors wiping, and think all rifle warriors suck.
I see low skill 5 signet GS warriors wiping, and I still think GS is good.
All warrior weapons are good… except maybe sword and Axe/Axe lol

Also, good point about the damage. So many people think that GS is the best because of the big numbers. It’s been nice to see a few threads rising up about the axe having more DPS. It’s time that people stop posting w/o being truly informed about each weapon and, more importantly, the playstyle (situation, etc.)

Okay, tested out 20% less CD for Burst… and it’s not as good as it seems on paper.
The Grandmaster trait that makes burst use 1/2 adrenaline seems to be better. Why?
You still have 1.5 bars of adrenaline left after using a burst. A few shots and you’re at 2 bars. You gain crit chance and damage from having more adrenaline, and it cuts into your DPS to use your burst every 8s since the rest of the time you’re attacking to regain adrenaline. Even with signet and healing burst for instant full adrenaline, there is seemingly too much downtime.

I’m going to test out burst skills use less adrenaline and see how it goes.

What do you guys think?

Yaki.9563:

Rifle damage is inferior to melee damage single target. It’s far inferior to melee damage with multiple targets thanks to cleave and AE skills. The only thing you gain from rifle is the ability to fight at range but to me that just means you are standing outside of heal range while all the other melee are getting heals and protection and other boons because they are nicely clumped up around the boss.

There’s a case for going Rifle in WvWvW because of Kill Shot’s burst and the way zerging is, but in PvE? /boot (not really, but I sigh inside)

That´s it, range DPS is far behind Melee DPS.

For example, Axe can do 4-5k AA in CoF, all the time, no Break, not necessary to wait for your two dmg Abilities (Volley and Killshot, other Skills do rly low dmg).

Even if u make a Longbow/Rifle Rotation (Volley/Killshot>switch to LB for 3 and 2 and stonger AA). Your DPS will be far behind a non Glass Canon Meleewarrior.

Other Classes do more range dmg, and they have got more Support or useful skills if they play ranged combat (Elementalmage for example).

If u play a Warrior in PvE, u have got 2 great things.

1. Rly high dps
2. the best offensive Teamsupport u can get in this Game.

If u play ranged, u will lose the first part.

I wanted to play my Warrior Rifle/LB based (because it´s low of fun!), but after i reached lvl 80 (4 month ago), i learned how much more dmg GS/Axe or even a Sword can do.

Rifle AA is the only Warrior WW which scales better with Condition dmg then Power. And u will use a lot AA because u have only a 8 and 10 Sec CD for good DPS.

But finally, better a good range Warrior with nice LB/Rifle Rotation and good Skills (Banners, Shouts and so on) then a melee bad Warrior.

If the Melee is bad and have to use Knight´sgear (oder even Soldier) to surrive, and the range has got Zerkers….i would prefer the Zerker Rifle/LB i think.

Btw: Burst Skills cost less, should be better.

1. U will not lose all Dmg Bonus from Zerkers Power and heighent Focus.

2. U are able to use Burstskills all 10 Sec. Without wasting Healing Surge oder using Signet of Precision/Zerkers Stance to get Adrenalin faster.

3. If u use LB/Rifle Rotation, the 8 sec CD would be useless anyway.

While GS dps is not top dog, a Rifle war is not top dog either. The fact remains, melee dps>range dps. Sure, melee gets interrupted by dodge and kiting. But well-played melee warriors will out dps well-played ranged warriors. (Disregarding high fractals where 80% of wars and guards go range anyway).
But the most important piece of gear/build/whatever, is the player.

Also i don’t see what skills you need to be a good ranged warrior. Because you just stand at range, shoot stuff and let the melee eat most of the aggro.

EDIT: If you love playing a rifle warrior, more power to you. But if you are trying to sell it as a Powerful Build, then we have to disagree.

Norjena.5172:

Yaki.9563:

Rifle damage is inferior to melee damage single target. It’s far inferior to melee damage with multiple targets thanks to cleave and AE skills. The only thing you gain from rifle is the ability to fight at range but to me that just means you are standing outside of heal range while all the other melee are getting heals and protection and other boons because they are nicely clumped up around the boss.

There’s a case for going Rifle in WvWvW because of Kill Shot’s burst and the way zerging is, but in PvE? /boot (not really, but I sigh inside)

That´s it, range DPS is far behind Melee DPS.

For example, Axe can do 4-5k AA in CoF, all the time, no Break, not necessary to wait for your two dmg Abilities (Volley and Killshot, other Skills do rly low dmg).

Even if u make a Longbow/Rifle Rotation (Volley/Killshot>switch to LB for 3 and 2 and stonger AA). Your DPS will be far behind a non Glass Canon Meleewarrior.

Other Classes do more range dmg, and they have got more Support or useful skills if they play ranged combat (Elementalmage for example).

If u play a Warrior in PvE, u have got 2 great things.

1. Rly high dps
2. the best offensive Teamsupport u can get in this Game.

If u play ranged, u will lose the first part.

I wanted to play my Warrior Rifle/LB based (because it´s low of fun!), but after i reached lvl 80 (4 month ago), i learned how much more dmg GS/Axe or even a Sword can do.

Rifle AA is the only Warrior WW which scales better with Condition dmg then Power. And u will use a lot AA because u have only a 8 and 10 Sec CD for good DPS.

But finally, better a good range Warrior with nice LB/Rifle Rotation and good Skills (Banners, Shouts and so on) then a melee bad Warrior.

If the Melee is bad and have to use Knight´sgear (oder even Soldier) to surrive, and the range has got Zerkers….i would prefer the Zerker Rifle/LB i think.

Btw: Burst Skills cost less, should be better.

1. U will not lose all Dmg Bonus from Zerkers Power and heighent Focus.

2. U are able to use Burstskills all 10 Sec. Without wasting Healing Surge oder using Signet of Precision/Zerkers Stance to get Adrenalin faster.

3. If u use LB/Rifle Rotation, the 8 sec CD would be useless anyway.

I don’t mind to be rude, but it feels like you guys are repeating the same arguments over and over again. I have played GS and axe, and I have even said that they are both superior in terms of potential DPS; however, it is unrealistic. GS warrior, in my opinion, just isn’t that viable for end-game content. Axe is, imho, the best end-game weapon with the way everything is currently being played. (Of course, these statements varying depending on your definition of end-game).

Anyways, that being said, you still maintain really high DPS with ranged. I switch between an axe set up and rifle/LB set up, and I will admit the axe is higher, but to say that other “ranged classes” have higher DPS is stupid. Warrior is stupidly OP in terms of PvE damage with almost any build.

At your point 1… how would I not lose the bonus w/o adrenaline?

Bunmaster.9734:

While GS dps is not top dog, a Rifle war is not top dog either. The fact remains, melee dps>range dps. Sure, melee gets interrupted by dodge and kiting. But well-played melee warriors will out dps well-played ranged warriors. (Disregarding high fractals where 80% of wars and guards go range anyway).
But the most important piece of gear/build/whatever, is the player.

Also i don’t see what skills you need to be a good ranged warrior. Because you just stand at range, shoot stuff and let the melee eat most of the aggro.

EDIT: If you love playing a rifle warrior, more power to you. But if you are trying to sell it as a Powerful Build, then we have to disagree.

Well played Axe > Rifle, I will agree.
Actually, it just requires competence. You would be surprised at the number of people that will open up w/ F1 longbow and draw all aggro only to get owned. lol….

Rifle is a powerful build. Imho, I would say Axe/x/x > Rifle/LB > GS/x.

i would personally miss out on dps and use banner build with range.

You could do more with banners since ur at range, and let the melee people take hits up front.

If your soloing, u can also pick up a banner and use it for speed boosts + healing.

Also Rifle/LB can not beat GS/rifle.

They synergize really well in the trait tree under 20.30.0.0.20
Most of the rifle skills are in the 30 trait, and most GS builds require you to put 30 in that area so u can swap 1 trait on the fly without retraining, to get pierce and shorter rifle cooldown.

You will not be liked when you join dungeon groups.

You will not contribute much either in PVE (Groups) and/or Dungeons.

I am a Dual Axe/Rifle build and can nowehere near achieve the results with my rifle which I achieve with my axes.

I also carry a Bow & GS with me for when the situation requires them, so only having a rifle and bow in your inventory limits yourself to the extreme.

Do expect to be asked if your a ranger (in a high sarcastic tone) when you run that confiq.

Goodluck XD

I’m certainly not a warrior expert, but more often than not, I have a much better time with rifle warriors over gs warriors. I’’m not saying it’s a better build, but there is one key difference between the two; rifle warriors aren’t running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Perhaps certain build do put put bigger numbers, bit it seems to me like the gs warriors are doing a lot more dancing around than actually hitting the target.

Slaptjip.4895:

You will not be liked when you join dungeon groups.

You will not contribute much either in PVE (Groups) and/or Dungeons.

I am a Dual Axe/Rifle build and can nowehere near achieve the results with my rifle which I achieve with my axes.

I also carry a Bow & GS with me for when the situation requires them, so only having a rifle and bow in your inventory limits yourself to the extreme.

Do expect to be asked if your a ranger (in a high sarcastic tone) when you run that confiq.

Goodluck XD

-Funny how I get into any group I want easily.
-because you’re probably traited and geared to use dual axe… err?
-From where did you draw the assumption that these are the only 2 weapons I carry?
-You’re the only one that has asked.
-You too

Cook: thanks for the guide, it’s good to see I wasn’t the only one. After reading the other posts I have to say, some people just can’t play a character for fun, it has to always be ‘endgame’ or ‘leet’

Also I never had any trouble with Rifle warrior in my party, the GS on the other hand…

Spracket: Exactly, that’s why I enjoy dungeoning with necromancer, at least someone has to resurrect them when they die (and GS die a lot)

The amount of ignorance in this thread is amazing.

People concluding that axe > rifle is better DPS based on test dummies is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Yes it obviously does more damage, I don’t think anybody disputes that but what we are concerned with here is DPS aka damage per second. Test dummies is a really poor example of how much damage you are actually doing in a dungeon (it lacks ecological validity).

With melee, yes it does more DPS, when you are actually hitting mobs. In melee, more so than ranged you are dodging more hits and running more. Sometimes mobs are teleporting or running so by the time you catch up to them a rifle warrior would have gotten 3-4 more hits. If you are taking almost fatal hits (which can happen no matter what you do) you aren’t doing much dps either because most likely you are retreating.

In many cases (more often than not) an axe will do more damage than a rifle over time. I’m not disputing that part but there are also times where it would be better suited to use a rifle. What people are overlooking and not appreciating is how situational it is. It is knowing when to switch weapons, when to melee and when to range that is important in reaching the highest DPS that you can. Not just simply, oh, I am using axe so therefore I must be doing more DPS. You aren’t doing much DPS when you are running for your life, dead on the floor or running towards a mob while a rifle warrior can stay at the back at a relatively safe distance and DPS.

So really I don’t understand the hate towards rifle warriors or ranged ones for that matter. I’d really like to see warriors do the fire shaman, harpies, mossman etc without a range weapon on level 30+ fractal and see how that works out for them in terms of DPS. You will pretty much die in 10 seconds if you stand toe to toe in melee combat with some of those mobs, probably in 1 second if you are a glass cannon. Ideally in PvE, a ranged weapon and a melee weapon is probably the most optimal in terms of DPS.

I bet you some of these guys are the same people that go full berserker gear with full berserker trinkets, fully traited into discipline/arms and hundred blade everything that moves and claim that they are pro. This game is way more than these simple gimmick/cookie cutter builds.

killahmayne.9518:

The amount of ignorance in this thread is amazing.

People concluding that axe > rifle is better DPS based on test dummies is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Yes it obviously does more damage, I don’t think anybody disputes that but what we are concerned with here is DPS aka damage per second. Test dummies is a really poor example of how much damage you are actually doing in a dungeon (it lacks ecological validity).

With melee, yes it does more DPS, when you are actually hitting mobs. In melee, more so than ranged you are dodging more hits and running more. Sometimes mobs are teleporting or running so by the time you catch up to them a rifle warrior would have gotten 3-4 more hits. If you are taking almost fatal hits (which can happen no matter what you do) you aren’t doing much dps either because most likely you are retreating.

In many cases (more often than not) an axe will do more damage than a rifle over time. I’m not disputing that part but there are also times where it would be better suited to use a rifle. What people are overlooking and not appreciating is how situational it is. It is knowing when to switch weapons, when to melee and when to range that is important in reaching the highest DPS that you can. Not just simply, oh, I am using axe so therefore I must be doing more DPS. You aren’t doing much DPS when you are running for your life, dead on the floor or running towards a mob while a rifle warrior can stay at the back at a relatively safe distance and DPS.

So really I don’t understand the hate towards rifle warriors or ranged ones for that matter. I’d really like to see warriors do the fire shaman, harpies, mossman etc without a range weapon on level 30+ fractal and see how that works out for them in terms of DPS. You will pretty much die in 10 seconds if you stand toe to toe in melee combat with some of those mobs, probably in 1 second if you are a glass cannon. Ideally in PvE, a ranged weapon and a melee weapon is probably the most optimal in terms of DPS.

I bet you some of these guys are the same people that go full berserker gear with full berserker trinkets, fully traited into discipline/arms and hundred blade everything that moves and claim that they are pro. This game is way more than these simple gimmick/cookie cutter builds.

Thanks for the post

Also, may I ask what weapon set and build you use?
I’ve been going through some random builds for end-game and testing them all out.
Planning on making a guide one day for all warriors lol.

Right now, just testing out a 20/25/15/0/10 someone recommended with GS/Rifle.

Also, isn’t it better to go full berserker?
I mix and match knight and berserk since I have full sets of both, but my guild mate goes full berserk and owns (Then again, he’s a much player than I am as I’m not a hardcore gamer, but not a casual one either lol)

I use double axes and longbow for trash.

I use rifle+longbow for bosses.

What DPS I might be lacking in comparison to melee I more than make up for by not…. you know… dropping like a rock every 10 seconds like every other melee DPS I see running around. And when I pull aggro—not if, when—I have the luxury of keeping distance while maintaining DPS. In a perfect world melee DPS can rock it out without ever worrying about getting splashed into down state.

But this ain’t a perfect world. So while you’re sitting on your * waiting for someone to stop what THEY’RE doing to pick YOU up I’m trucking along non-stop. So, you can keep your magical 7k DPS for the 10 seconds you’re up before you take resources away from the group to keep you up.

I’ll stick with my piddly 3k+ DPS that never stops and doesn’t need to be maintained by pulling others off their duties thus dropping group DPS/HPS as a whole.

But, that’s just me.

CookMETEnder.7582:

killahmayne.9518:

The amount of ignorance in this thread is amazing.

People concluding that axe > rifle is better DPS based on test dummies is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Yes it obviously does more damage, I don’t think anybody disputes that but what we are concerned with here is DPS aka damage per second. Test dummies is a really poor example of how much damage you are actually doing in a dungeon (it lacks ecological validity).

With melee, yes it does more DPS, when you are actually hitting mobs. In melee, more so than ranged you are dodging more hits and running more. Sometimes mobs are teleporting or running so by the time you catch up to them a rifle warrior would have gotten 3-4 more hits. If you are taking almost fatal hits (which can happen no matter what you do) you aren’t doing much dps either because most likely you are retreating.

In many cases (more often than not) an axe will do more damage than a rifle over time. I’m not disputing that part but there are also times where it would be better suited to use a rifle. What people are overlooking and not appreciating is how situational it is. It is knowing when to switch weapons, when to melee and when to range that is important in reaching the highest DPS that you can. Not just simply, oh, I am using axe so therefore I must be doing more DPS. You aren’t doing much DPS when you are running for your life, dead on the floor or running towards a mob while a rifle warrior can stay at the back at a relatively safe distance and DPS.

So really I don’t understand the hate towards rifle warriors or ranged ones for that matter. I’d really like to see warriors do the fire shaman, harpies, mossman etc without a range weapon on level 30+ fractal and see how that works out for them in terms of DPS. You will pretty much die in 10 seconds if you stand toe to toe in melee combat with some of those mobs, probably in 1 second if you are a glass cannon. Ideally in PvE, a ranged weapon and a melee weapon is probably the most optimal in terms of DPS.

I bet you some of these guys are the same people that go full berserker gear with full berserker trinkets, fully traited into discipline/arms and hundred blade everything that moves and claim that they are pro. This game is way more than these simple gimmick/cookie cutter builds.

Thanks for the post

Also, may I ask what weapon set and build you use?
I’ve been going through some random builds for end-game and testing them all out.
Planning on making a guide one day for all warriors lol.

Right now, just testing out a 20/25/15/0/10 someone recommended with GS/Rifle.

Also, isn’t it better to go full berserker?
I mix and match knight and berserk since I have full sets of both, but my guild mate goes full berserk and owns (Then again, he’s a much player than I am as I’m not a hardcore gamer, but not a casual one either lol)

I have all the weapons you can have on the warrior and I switch according to the situation. In most dungeons like CoF or SE i will use Rifle/Axe-Mace. Certain bosses like the flame shaman in FoTM i will use Rifle to burst down the boss and Longbow to kill all the elementals. If I feel I need more tankiness I might sometimes switch my mace to a shield. Occasionally I may go GS if I need that combination of mobility and damage

Right now I run 10/25/15/0/20, it almost maximizes my damage output while at the same time having some toughness and regen. To me, fast hands is a must have trait I can’t really imagine myself without it as sometimes switching weps means life or death in fractals, probably not so much in other dungeons. I also use the same trait setup for WvW though I might make a few tweaks to what major traits I use.

Full berserker stuff might fly in the regular dungeons like CoF, SE and FoTM level 1-20. But it definitely doesn’t in FoTM 20+. I can’t count how many warriors i’ve seen at level 20 FoTM still rocking berserker everything with signet of might and precision trying to maximize their DPS.

But guess what? These warriors are often doing the least DPS, face checking crap with greatswords, having to be picked off the floor every 10 seconds (even when going range) and thus being the sole reason why the whole part wipes. Especially in places like cliffside and the volcano fractal where it is super important that everybody lives. Face it, if you are on the floor most of the time you are doing zero DPS and the guy ressing your butt is doing zero DPS so in other words you are negative DPS. Relying on other people to constantly keep you alive while you do dmg is a recipe for disaster, you gotta be self-sufficient by packing some survivability, condition removal, etc.

I do a 20/25/15/0/10 build. I guess the difference is that I get the extra 10 in strength for GS damage, but at the cost of fast hands -.-…
I started using my full Draconic Knight set with ruby orbs.
Do you think that ruby orbs are suitable or should I look for more?
I’m doing pretty well in higher fractals, but I’m always looking to improve.

I tend to utilize LB, Rifle, and GS in Fractals. The only reason I am reluctant to go axe/mace is because I spent a hefty sum purchasing Eternity lol

I like the build.

The main reason I’ve ventured into the Rifle/LB set up is that I really (REALLY) struggle with dodging. I’m not sure it is lag or just my lack of skill. I venture to guess its a lack of skill, I’m not one for blaming stuff like lag) I’ve used different melee based builds and most of the time I’ve been on the ground waiting for someone to pick me up.

So far I haven’t had any complaints from anyone when I have been running with the Rifle/LB

CookMETender, you gave me the idea to create a shout support warrior that utilizes the bleed from rifle. I was able to get 80% uptime for the bleed, with ticks that go from 68-115 on mobs, and somtimes I’ve noticed the ticks going into the 150 range.

The runes I’ve been using are 5 krait with 1 undead, zerker jewelry with ruby runes. 20-20-0-30-0 build, where shouts heal, 20% shorter cd, and empower in the 30 line. The rest is easy to understand.

Now, from my own play, it’s a great set-up because you can get a stack of 14 bleed in less than or close to 1-2 seconds; it’s extremely fast. Now, the mob/boss will bleed like water out a faucet, and it’s awesome to see that constant bleed in action, I just fear that I could provide more to the group.

Whenever I want to go farming in Orr, I have to switch to GS or melee because of the area, which negates the runes and the condition damage entirely. It’s far easier for me to melee there, because it’s faster and I live far longer.

I’m thinking that this will be a great build if ranged damage was on par with melee, because the gap from ranged to melee is quite huge. I like the idea of the build for sure, as rifle is one of my favorite weapons on the warrior, but honestly I find myself questioning whether or not I’m actually helping the group or hindering them.

Maybe if I was more of a power/crit rifle build it’d be a lot better, but as I like to be a shout support warrior, it leaves me with really one option. I tried to make a shout rifle warrior work with bleeds, and it seems to work and my group hasn’t complained to me about my set up, but I find myself constantly questioning myself on the use of the bleeds with my current build.

I think ranged damage is on par with melee damage if you look at it in terms of damage per second.

With melee I notice I’m moving around a lot and dodging a lot. There are times when whatever I’m attacking just isn’t in range of melee and I’m running to meet up with it.

With range, I still have to move here and there but for the most part it is like steady and consistent damage.

Yes melee has the bigger numbers but when you take everything into account I would bet the two end up very close it total damage over the course of many “boss-type” encounters.

Disturbed.9305:

I think ranged damage is on par with melee damage if you look at it in terms of damage per second.

With melee I notice I’m moving around a lot and dodging a lot. There are times when whatever I’m attacking just isn’t in range of melee and I’m running to meet up with it.

With range, I still have to move here and there but for the most part it is like steady and consistent damage.

Yes melee has the bigger numbers but when you take everything into account I would bet the two end up very close it total damage over the course of many “boss-type” encounters.

That is true, and is something I forget. I’ll continue doing what I’m doing, and I can always change some other time when I have more cash.

The main problem with being concerned with damage is falling in love with the big numbers, which seems to happen to a lot of people in this game.

I’m currently doing some math and testing out multiple builds, I’ll post the results when I’m done.

I have a very optimal GS build and this “pure range” build that I have compared, but I need to find an optimal axe/axe build. -.-. lol